Though not cheap, wireless networking technology makes it easier to fashion a broadband network and get it up and running. In recent news coverage of a request by Chicago's City Council to analyze the cost of building a citywide Wi-Fi network, Chicago CIO Chris O'Brien told the Council the network would cost $18 million and require approximately 7,500 antennas.
Plenty of frustrated local governments have already built citywide wireless networks to furnish residents with broadband Internet access. Some cities give it away. Some charge for it.
Though discussing the merits of either approach is entertaining, what's more interesting is watching the clash between local governments and the private sector.
Philadelphia's announcement at the end of 2004 that it would back, and build, a citywide Wi-Fi broadband network for city residents (at a monthly flat rate of less than $20), generated lots of attention from media outlets across the country.
Efforts to quash the plan received just as much attention: Magazines and newspapers reported on a bill in the Pennsylvania Legislature (and backed by giant telecommunications companies) to put the clamps on other cities or towns following Philly's lead.
This struggle plays out on a smaller scale across the country. Besides heavyweight cities, flyweights such as Scottsburg, Ind., fight for broadband for rural residents.
It's a power struggle that's been going on since the United States was born.
Local governments want certain things for those they answer to at city council or county commission meetings. To the people, it doesn't matter where they live. To the private sector, it does.
Whether the struggle is over electrical lines, telephone lines or railroad lines, it's always about connecting to the outside. People want that connection. Private companies don't see a sufficiently enticing rate of return to justify spending huge amounts of money to make that connection happen.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
